Humility Vs. Self-Reliance: My Contemplation of Verse 24 of the Tao Te Ching

Dr. Dyer's book is Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao.

Today I want to present you with the whole of verse 24 of the Tao Te Ching:

If you stand on tiptoe, you cannot stand firmly.

If you take long steps, you cannot walk far.

Showing off does not reveal enlightenment.

Boasting will not produce accomplishment.

He who is self-righteous is not respected.

He who brags will not endure.

All these ways of acting are odious, distasteful.

They are superfluous excess.

They are like a pain in the stomach,

a tumor in the body.

When walking the path of the Tao, 

this is the very stuff that must be

uprooted, thrown out, and left behind.

This verse of the Tao Te Ching (The Chinese Book of the Source of the Way) is asking us to stop bragging about our achievements, our belongings, and our status.  We must remember that everything around us is due to God's provision.  We must remain cognizant of that fact.  To be honest, it is distasteful when people brag about themselves.

When I say "we," I am including myself.  I am ready to admit that I have a tendency towards self-reliance.  I have a bad habit of resting on my education and my ability to find information about topics that I don't know.  I must remember that God is responsible for allowing me to get that education and for my ability to research.  I must acknowledge that He has blessed me immensely.   

God is the Source or the Tao of all that we experience with our senses.  It is due to God's lovingkindness that we have what we have.  We should show our gratitude for all that God has provided.  He provides us the necessities and often our wants.  He even blesses us with extras that He sees fit to give us.

I must teach my children about gratitude.  

I often use an interesting scenario.  I tell my kids that we are blessed because we have a refrigerator full of food.  There are people in Africa that don't have any food.  They don't even have a refrigerator.  They don't even have a house to hold a refrigerator!  

My children then realize they should be grateful 

for what they DO have.

To sum up, we need to remain humble.  We need to stay away from boasting or bragging about ourselves.  People around us don't like it.  Bragging turns people off.  We also need to remain grateful to God for everything that we have; we don't have our things just based on our abilities. 

How about you, my friends?  Are you resting on your accomplishments?  Are you relying on your abilities?  I encourage you to be thankful to God for all that He has provided in your life.  Humility can take you farther and show the children in your life about your rightful dependence on the Provider.

May God bless you, my beloveds, with His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for Wisdom Wednesdays.

 

I am currently drawing inspiration from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's book and the 81 verses of the Chinese wisdom book the Tao Te Ching.